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Clinical Laboratories and Pathology Groups

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Innovators Develop Multi-Analyte Pulse Oximeters That Accurately Read Oxygen Levels in People with Darker Skin Pigmentation

Multiple studies have shown that people with darker skin pigmentation run a higher risk of being misdiagnosed and undertreated than patients with lighter skin due to inaccurate oxygen level readings

Though pulse oximeters are not a standard clinical laboratory device, clinical laboratory scientists (aka, medical technologists) know of them and understand their function, particularly with hospital patients.

Now, scientists at multiple institutions are working to improve the basic pulse oximeter’s design by making it capable of measuring multiple biomarkers, as well as addressing long-standing inaccuracies in the device when used on people with darker skin pigmentation.

This ongoing research demonstrates how new technologies are enabling innovators to add useful functions to standard, well-accepted devices.

Valencia Koomson, PhD

Valencia Koomson, PhD (above), Associate Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and head of the Advanced Integrated Circuits and Systems Lab at Tufts University, has developed a pulse oximeter that measures oxygenation in tissue, rather than in blood. Her approach could ensure patients with darker skin pigmentation will be accurately diagnosed at the point-of-care. Though generally not used in clinical laboratory settings, medical technologists will be interested to learn of these new innovations in pulse oximeters. (Photo copyright: Tufts University.)

Measuring Tissues Instead of Blood

The pulse oximeter—a device that attaches to a person’s finger—uses red and infrared light to measure blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) and display pulse rate.

Studies in 2022 that looked into how hospitals administered oxygen to different patients found that inconsistent pulse oximeter readings could cause caregivers to administer less oxygen than is actually needed to people with darker skin pigmentation.

This is because melanin in the skin can interfere with “absorption of light used to measure oxygenated blood in a person’s finger,” according to a National Science Foundation (NSF) news story. Such inaccurate pulse oximeter readings can lead to “inaccurate readings and poorer treatment outcomes” for people with dark skin tones, the NSF wrote.

“Addressing this problem will require innovation in pulse oximeter design and revised regulatory standards,” said Valencia Koomson, PhD, Associate Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts, in the NSF news story.

Koomson, who leads the Advance Integrated Circuit and Systems Lab at Tufts, has developed a prototype pulse oximeter device, which NSF explained, measures oxygenation in biological tissues instead of blood.

NSF supports her pulse oximeter research through the National Science Foundation Partnerships for Innovation (PFI) program.

“My lab’s work on pulse oximeter devices will provide an alternative technology to address many confounding factors that affect pulse oximeter accuracy, including skin pigmentation, motion artifact, and others,” Koomson said.

National Public Radio (NPR) said Koomson’s device has built-in “technology that can measure a person’s skin tone.”

“We can send more light if there’s a higher level of melanin present, so that melanin doesn’t become a confounding factor that obscures our results,” Koomson told NPR.

Another Pulse Oximeter Redesign

Another new approach to pulse oximetry was developed at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.

Rutendo Jakachira, Research Assistant, School of Engineering, and a PhD student in physics, turned to new optical techniques to address the challenge of oxygen saturation levels in dark skin tones, according to a Brown University news release.

Jakachira and Kimani Toussaint, PhD, Professor of Engineering and Senior Associate Dean in the School of Engineering, say they have created possibly the first LED-based light source to emit radially polarized light.

When the LED passes light through a person’s finger, the device calculates the amount of light the hemoglobin in the blood absorbed, NPR explained.

“We did a preliminary study on about five people, and although it was a small study, the results are promising,” said Jakachira, who plans a larger study and clinical trial. 

Study Suggests Patients with Darker Skin May Have Received Delayed COVID-19 Care

Meanwhile, a study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology (AJE) suggested pulse oximeter errors may have led to a 4.5-hour delay in COVID-19 treatment of patients with darker skin pigmentation, according to a news release from the University of California San Francisco.

The researchers analyzed electronic health record (EHR) data from 43,753 patients at Sutter Health in Sacramento, California, who had SpO2 measurements done between January 2020 and February 2022, and 8,735 patients seen for COVID-19 between July 2020 and February 2021 in the hospital’s emergency department.

In their AJE paper, they wrote, “We investigated whether or not pulse oximetry systematically underestimated oxygen saturation in patients who identified as NHB [non-Hispanic Black/African-American] as compared with NHW [non-Hispanic White] counterparts. We also assessed whether or not differences in oxygen saturation measurement affected hospital admission, care delivered, or return to the hospital post discharge among patients with COVID-19.

“We found evidence of differential pulse oximeter measurement error in NHB individuals, resulting in nonrandom overestimation of blood oxygenation as compared with NHW individuals. NHB individuals were also more likely to have hypoxemia [abnormally low oxygen levels in the blood] not detected by pulse oximetry.

“For NHB patients presenting in the ED with COVID-19, we found that overestimation of oxygen saturation was associated with underestimation of the need for admission and underestimation of the need for treatment with dexamethasone and supplemental oxygen. Additionally, we observed associated delays in dexamethasone initiation and initiation of oxygen supplementation.

“There are also broader implications beyond COVID-19, as differential pulse oximeter accuracy has the potential to exacerbate disparities for any condition that relies upon blood oxygenation measurement to inform clinical decision-making.”

Importance of Accurate Readings

Developing pulse oximeters that are accurate for all people, regardless of skin tone, is clearly an important breakthrough. Medical laboratory leaders and pathologists recognize that SpO2 data—along with clinical laboratory test results—are critical for successful diagnostics and treatment. Thus, new technologies that add useful functions to well-accepted devices are positive developments and worth watching.    

Donna Marie Pocius

Related Information:

Researcher Addresses Longstanding Problem with Pulse Oximeters and Dark-skinned Patients

When it Comes to Darker Skin, Pulse Oximeters Fall Short

Brown PhD Student Working to Correct Skin Color Bias in Pulse Oximeters

Pulse Oximeters Don’t Work as Well on Darker Skin, Leading to Flawed COVID-19 Care

Racial Disparities in Pulse Oximeter Device Inaccuracy and Estimated Clinical Impact on COVID-19 Treatment Course

UCSF Researchers Identify Genetic Mutation That Promotes an Asymptomatic Response in Humans to COVID-19 Infection

Understanding why some people display no symptoms during a COVID-19 infection could lead to new precision medicine genetic tests medical labs could use to identify people with the mutated gene

New research from the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) may explain why some people could get COVID-19 but never test positive on a clinical laboratory test or develop symptoms despite exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.

According to the UCSF study, variations in a specific gene in a system of genes responsible for regulating the human immune system appears to be the factor in why about 10% of those who become infected with the virus are asymptomatic.

These scientific insights did not receive widespread news coverage but will be of interest to clinical laboratory managers and pathologists who oversee SARS-CoV-2 testing in their labs.

Jill Hollenbach, PhD

“Some people just don’t have symptoms at all,” Jill Hollenbach, PhD (above), Professor of Neurology at UCSF’s Weill Institute for Neurosciences and lead researcher in the study, told NBC News. “There’s something happening at a really fundamental level in the immune response that is helping those people to just completely wipe out this infection.” Identifying a genetic reason why some people are asymptomatic could lead to new precision medicine clinical laboratory diagnostics for COVID-19. (Photo copyright: Elena Zhukova /University of California San Francisco.)

Fortunate Gene Mutation

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) COVID Data Tracker, as of April 5, 2023, a total of 104,242,889 COVID-19 cases have been reported in the United States. However, according to a CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), “Traditional methods of disease surveillance do not capture all COVID-19 cases because some are asymptomatic, not diagnosed, or not reported; therefore, [knowing the true] proportion of the population with SARS-CoV-2 antibodies (i.e., seroprevalence) can improve understanding of population-level incidence of COVID-19.”

Jill Hollenbach, PhD, lead researcher in the UCSF study and Professor of Neurology at UCSF’s Weill Institute for Neurosciences, runs the Hollenbach Lab at UCSF. The lab specializes in the study of two important elements in human immune response:

She also participates in the COVID-19 HLA and Immunogenetics Consortium, a group of academic researchers, clinical laboratory directors, journal editors, and others who examine the role of HLA variations in determining COVID-19 risk.

Hollenbach’s research identified an HLA variant—known as HLA-B*15:01—that causes the human immune system to react quickly to SARS-CoV-2 and “basically nuke the infection before you even start to have symptoms,” she told NPR.

“It’s definitely luck,” she added. “But, you know, this [gene] mutation is quite common. We estimate that maybe one in 10 people have it. And in people who are asymptomatic, that rises to one in five.”

The researchers published their findings on the medRxiv preprint server titled, “A Common Allele of HLA Mediates Asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 Infection.” The UCSF study has not yet been peer-reviewed.

UCSF Study Methodology

“HLA variants are among the strongest reported associations with viral infections,” the UCSF study notes. So, the researchers theorized that HLA variations play a role in asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections as well.

To conduct their study, shortly after the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in 2020, the researchers recruited approximately 30,000 volunteer bone marrow donors from the National Marrow Donor Program to respond to periodic questions via a smartphone app or website. Because HLA variations can determine appropriate matches between donors and recipients, the database includes information about their HLA types.

Each week, respondents were asked to report if they had been tested for SARS-CoV-2. Each day, they were asked to report whether they had symptoms associated with COVID-19. “We were pretty stringent in our definition of asymptomatic,” Hollenbach told NBC News. “[The respondents couldn’t] even have a scratchy throat.”

The researchers eventually identified a cohort of 1,428 people who had tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 between February 2020 and April 30, 2021, before vaccines were widely available. Among these individuals, 136 reported no symptoms for two weeks before or two weeks after a positive test.

“Overall, one in five individuals (20%) who remained asymptomatic after infection carried HLA-B*15:01, compared to 9% among patients reporting symptoms,” the researchers wrote in their medRxiv preprint. Study participants with two copies of the gene were more than eight times more likely to be asymptomatic.

The UCSF researchers also looked at four other HLA variants and found none to be “significantly associated” with lack of symptoms. They confirmed their findings by reproducing the HLA-B association in two additional independent cohorts, one from an earlier study in the UK and the other consisting of San Francisco-area residents.

Individuals in the latter group had either tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 or reported COVID symptoms, and their DNA was analyzed to determine their HLA types.

Pre-existing T-Cell Immunity May Reduce Severity of COVID-19 Infection

The UCSF researchers also attempted to determine how HLA-B*15:01 plays a role in knocking out SARS-CoV-2 infections. They noted previous research that indicated previous exposure to seasonal coronaviruses, such as common cold viruses, could limit the severity of COVID-19. The scientists hypothesized that pre-existing T-cell immunity in HLA-B carriers may be the key.

The COVID-19 HLA and Immunogenetics Consortium website describes how HLA and T-cells work together to ward off disease. HLA “proteins are found on the surface of all cells except red-blood cells.” They’re “like windows into the inner workings of a cell,” and T-cells use the molecules to determine the presence of foreign proteins that are likely signs of infection. “Activated T-cells can kill infected cells, or activate B-cells, which produce antibodies in response to an infection,” the website explains.  

Hollenbach’s research team analyzed T-cells from pre-pandemic individuals and observed that in more than half of HLA-B carriers, the T-cells were reactive to a SARS-CoV-2 peptide. The scientists corroborated the hypothesis by examining crystal structures of the HLA-B*15:01 molecule in the presence of coronavirus spike peptides from SARS-CoV-2 and two other human coronaviruses: OC43-CoV and HKU1-CoV.

“Altogether, our results strongly support the hypothesis that HLA-B*15:01 mediates asymptomatic COVID-19 disease via pre-existing T-cell immunity due to previous exposure to HKU1-CoV and OC43-CoV,” the researchers wrote.

Can Genes Prevent COVID-19 Infections?

Meanwhile, researchers at The Rockefeller University in New York City are attempting to go further and see if there are mutations that prevent people from getting infected in the first place. NPR reported that they were seeking participants for a study seeking to identify so-called “superdodger” genes.

“You fill out a questionnaire online about your exposures to SARS-CoV-2,” explained Jean-Laurent Casanova, MD, PhD, professor, senior attending physician, and head of the St. Giles Laboratory of Human Genetics of Infectious Diseases at The Rockefeller University, who is leading the study.

Study participants identified as possibly having superdodger genes receive a kit designed to collect saliva samples, after which the researchers sequence the respondents’ genomes. “We hope that in a group of 2,000 to 4,000 people, some people will have genetic mutations that tell us why they’re resistant to infection,” Casanova told NPR.

All this genetic research is in very early stages. But results are promising and may lead to new precision medicine clinical laboratory tests for identifying people who are predisposed to having an asymptomatic response to COVID-19 infection. That in turn could help scientists learn how to moderate or even eliminate symptoms in those unfortunate people who suffer the typical symptoms of the disease.   

—Stephen Beale

Related Information:

A Common Allele of HLA Mediates Asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 Infection

What People with ‘Super Immunity’ Can Teach Us about COVID and Other Viruses

So, You Haven’t Caught COVID Yet. Does That Mean You’re a Superdodger?

If You Haven’t Gotten COVID Yet, This Might Be Why

Trends in Number of COVID-19 Cases and Deaths in the US Reported to CDC, by State/Territory

UC San Francisco Researchers Discover Why Some People Are Asymptomatic When Infected with COVID-19

Seroprevalence of Infection-Induced SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies—United States, September 2021–February 2022

UCSF and Stanford Researchers Investigate Why Some Infected with COVID-19 Are Asymptomatic, While Others Become Severely Ill or Die

Might clinical laboratories soon be called on to conduct mass testing to find people who show little or no symptoms even though they are infected with the coronavirus?    

Clinical laboratory managers understand that as demand for COVID-19 testing exceeds supplies, what testing is done is generally performed on symptomatic patients. And yet, it is the asymptomatic individuals—those who are shown to be infected with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, but who experience no symptoms of the illness—who may hold the key to creating effective treatments and vaccinations.

So, as the COVID-19 pandemic persists, scientists are asking why some people who are infected remain asymptomatic, while others die. Why do some patients get severely ill and others do not? Researchers at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) and Stanford University School of Medicine (Stanford Medicine) are attempting to answer these questions as they investigate viral transmission, masking, immunity, and more.

And pressure is increasing on researchers to find the answer. According to Monica Gandhi, MD, MPH, an infectious disease specialist and Professor of Medicine at UCSF, millions of people may be asymptomatic and unknowingly spreading the virus. Gandhi is also Associate Division Chief (Clinical Operations/Education) of the Division of HIV, Infectious Diseases, and Global Medicine at UCSF’s Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center.

“If we did a mass testing campaign on 300 million Americans right now, I think the rate of asymptomatic infection would be somewhere between 50% and 80% of cases,” she told UCSF Magazine.

On a smaller scale, her statement was borne out. In a study conducted in San Francisco’s Mission District during the first six weeks of the city’s shelter-in-place order, UCSF researchers conducted SARS-CoV-2 reverse transcription-PCR and antibody (Abbott ARCHITECT IgG) testing on 3,000 people. Approximately 53% tested positive for COVID-19 but had no symptoms such as fever, cough, and muscle aches, according to data reported by Carina Marquez, MD, UCSF Assistant Professor of Medicine and co-author of the study, in The Mercury News.

While their study undergoes peer-review, the researchers published their findings on the preprint server medRxiv, titled, “SARS-CoV-2 Community Transmission During Shelter-in-Place in San Francisco.”

Pandemic Control’s Biggest Challenge: Asymptomatic People

In an editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), Gandhi wrote that transmission of the virus by asymptomatic people is the “Achilles heel of COVID-19 pandemic control.”

In her article, Gandhi compared SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, to SARS-CoV-1, the coronavirus that caused the 2003 SARS epidemic. One difference lies in how the virus sheds. In the case of SARS-CoV-2, that takes place in the upper respiratory tract, but with SARS-CoV-1, it takes place in the lower tract. In the latter, symptoms are more likely to be detected, Gandhi explained. Thus, asymptomatic carriers of the coronavirus may go undetected.

Viral loads with SARS-CoV-1, which are associated with symptom onset, peak a median of five days later than viral loads with SARS-CoV-2, which makes symptom-based detection of infection more effective in the case of SARS-CoV-1,” Gandhi wrote. “With influenza, persons with asymptomatic disease generally have lower quantitative viral loads in secretions from the upper respiratory tract than from the lower respiratory tract and a shorter duration of viral shedding than persons with symptoms, which decreases the risk of transmission from paucisymptomatic persons.”

Rick Wright of Redwood City, CA
Rick Wright (above), an insurance broker in Redwood City, Calif., was infected with the COVID-19 coronavirus while aboard a Diamond Princess Cruise. He underwent 40 days of isolation, and though he consistently tested positive for the coronavirus, he experienced no symptoms of the illness. “I never felt sick. Not a cough, wheezing, headache. Absolutely nothing,” he told Mercury News. (Photo copyright: The Mercury News.)

Stanford Studies Immune Responses in COVID-19 Patients

Meanwhile, scientists at the Stanford University School of Medicine were on their own quest to find out why COVID-19 causes severe disease in some people and mild symptoms in others.

“One of the great mysteries of COVID-19 infections has been that some people develop severe disease, while others seem to recover quickly. Now, we have some insight into why that happens,” Bali Pulendran, PhD, Stanford Professor of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology and Senior Author of the study in a Stanford Medicine news release.

The study, published in Science, titled, “Systems Biological Assessment of Immunity to Mild Versus Severe COVID-19 Infection in Humans,” was based on analysis of 76 patients with COVID-19 and 69 healthy people from Hong Kong and Atlanta. The researchers pointed to flailing immune systems and “three molecular suspects” in the blood of COVID-19 patients they studied.

The Stanford research suggested that three molecules—EN-RAGE, TNFSF14, and oncostatin-M—“correlated with disease and increased bacterial products in human plasma” of COVID-19 patients. 

“Our multiplex analysis of plasma cytokines revealed enhanced levels of several proinflammatory cytokines and a strong association of the inflammatory mediators EN-RAGE, TNFSF14, and OSM with clinical severity of the disease,” the scientists wrote in Science.

Pulendran hypothesized that the molecules originated in patients’ lungs, which was the infection site. 

“These findings reveal how the immune system goes awry during coronavirus infections, leading to severe disease and point to potential therapeutic targets,” Pulendran said in the news release, adding, “These three molecules and their receptors could represent attractive therapeutic targets in combating COVID-19.”

Clinical Laboratories May Do More Testing of Asymptomatic People

The research continues. In a televised news conference, President Trump said COVID-19 testing plays an important role in “preventing transmission of the virus.” Clearly this is true and learning why some people who are infected experience little or no symptoms may be key to defeating COVID-19.

Thus, as the nation reopens, clinical laboratories may want to find ways to offer COVID-19 testing beyond hospitalized symptomatic patients and people who show up at independent labs with doctors’ orders. As supplies permit, laboratory managers may want to partner with providers in their communities to identify people who are asymptomatic and appear to be well, but who may be transmitting the coronavirus. 

—Donna Marie Pocius

Related Information:

We Thought It Was Just a Respiratory Virus—We Were Wrong

Coronavirus: Why Don’t People Get Sick Despite Being Infected?

Asymptomatic Transmission, the Achilles’ Heel of Current Strategies to Control COVID-19

Study Reveals Immune System-Deviations in Severe COVID-19 Cases, a Stanford Study Shows

Why Do Some Get Sick and Others Don’t? Study May Unravel Mystery

Systems Biological Assessment of Immunity to Mild Versus Severe COVID-19 Infection in Humans

UCSF Researchers Discover COVID-19 Coronavirus Evolved to Grow Tentacles and Use Them to Infect Other Cells!

Study scientists identified several currently available drugs that could inhibit growth of these “streaming filaments,” which infected cells use to go after non-infected cells

Like a scene from a bad horror movie, scientists have discovered that SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic, may be even more sinister and macabre than previously thought. The new research findings will interest those pathologists and clinical laboratory professionals who want to understand how the coronavirus spreads once it enters the body.

Headed by scientists from the University of San Francisco (UCSF), a team of international researchers discovered that “when the SARS-CoV-2 virus infects a human cell, it sets off a ghoulish transformation,” reported the Los Angeles Times (LA Times).

“Obeying instructions from the virus,” the LA Times continued, “the newly infected cell sprouts multi-pronged tentacles studded with viral particles. These disfigured zombie cells appear to be using those streaming filaments, or filopodia, to reach still-healthy neighboring cells. The protuberances appear to bore into the cells’ bodies and inject their viral venom directly into those cells’ genetic command centers—thus creating another zombie.”

As If the Coronavirus Weren’t Bad Enough!

“It’s just so sinister that the virus uses other mechanisms to infect other cells before it kills the cell,” Nevan Krogan, PhD, Professor, Department of Cellular Molecular Pharmacology at the UCSF School of Medicine, one of the study’s authors, told the LA Times.

The researchers published their study, titled, “The Global Phosphorylation Landscape of SARS-CoV-2 Infection,” in the journal Cell.

electron microscope shows the streaming filaments from a SARS-CoV-2 infected cell
The images above taken with an electron microscope show the streaming filaments—or as the researchers described in their published study, “filopodial protrusions possessing budding viral particles”—reaching out from cells infected with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus looking for other cells to infect. (Photos copyright: Los Angeles Times/Elizabeth Fischer, MA, Chief, RML Microscopy Unit, NIAID/NIH.)

SARS-CoV-2 Has Evolved, Study Suggests

Prior to this discovery, scientists believed that the coronavirus infected cells in a typical fashion by finding receptors on the surface of cells lining an individual’s mouth, nose, respiratory tract, lungs or blood vessels, and eventually replicating and invading larger cells. However, this new research may suggest that the virus has evolved and developed new ways to pass quickly and effectively from cell to cell. 

While some other illnesses, including smallpox, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and some influenza viruses have been known to use filopodia to enhance their ability to infect cells, Krogan contends that those other viruses do not seem to have the prolific growth of the SARS-CoV-2 filopodia. 

“By conducting a systematic analysis of the changes in phosphorylation when SARS-CoV-2 infects a cell, we identified several key factors that will inform not only the next areas of biological study, but also treatments that may be repurposed to treat patients with COVID-19,” he said, in a UCSF news release.

UCSF Study Identifies Drugs, Compounds That May Disrupt Growth of Filopodia

One key finding is that the coronavirus was utilizing a specific type of molecule from a family of cellular helpers known as Kinase to create the filopodia.

The researchers conducted a “quantitative mass spectrometry-based phosphoproteomics survey of SARS-CoV-2 infection in Vero E6 cells,” the study noted, which revealed a “dramatic rewiring of phosphorylation on host and viral proteins.

“SARS-CoV-2 infection promoted casein kinase 2 (CK2) and p38 MAPK activation, production of diverse cytokines, and shutdown of mitotic kinases, resulting in cell cycle arrest,” the study continued, adding, “Infection also stimulated a marked induction of CK2-containing filopodial protrusions possessing budding viral particles.

“Eighty-seven drugs and compounds were identified by mapping global phosphorylation profiles to dysregulated kinases and pathways. We found pharmacologic inhibition of the p38, CK2, CDK, AXL, and PIKFYVE kinases to possess antiviral efficacy, representing potential COVID-19 therapies,” the researchers concluded.

To determine if they might be helpful in combating COVID-19, the UCSF research team tested drugs and compounds that were either already cleared to market by the US federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA), in clinical trials, or under preclinical development.

After discovering the Kinase connection, the scientists focused on specialized drugs known as Kinase inhibitors.

“We narrowed in on about a dozen, and we highlighted about six or seven that look particularly potent in a laboratory setting,” Krogan told ABC News. “And we’re very excited now to try and take these into clinical trials.”

Among the drugs the study identified as potentially being able to disrupt the creation of filopodia and slow the spread of COVID-19 in the body are:

“We are encouraged by our findings that drugs targeting differentially phosphorylated proteins inhibited SARS-CoV-2 infection in cell culture,” said Kevan Shokat, PhD, Professor of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology at UCSF, and co-author of the study, in the UCSF news release. “We expect to build upon this work by testing many other kinase inhibitors, while concurrently conducting experiments with other technologies to identify underlying pathways and additional potential therapeutics that may intervene in COVID-19 effectively.”

Presently, the UCSF study provides no direct benefit to COVID-19 illness patients or clinical laboratories performing SARS-CoV-2 testing. However, that could change rapidly. Pathologists and medical laboratory managers will want to keep an eye on this research, because it may lead to new treatments for COVID-19 that would require increased clinical laboratory testing to identify people infected with the coronavirus.

—JP Schlingman

Related Information:

Inside the Body, the Coronavirus is Even More Sinister than Scientists had Realized

The Global Phosphorylation Landscape of SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Coronavirus Hijacks Cells, Forces them to Grow Tentacles, then Invades Others

UCSF Researchers Look to Turn COVID-19’s Weapons Against Itself

COVID-19 Relies on Cell’s Master Regulators for Survival

Two Boston Health Systems Enter the Growing Direct-to-Consumer Gene Sequencing Market by Opening Preventative Genomics Clinics, but Can Patients Afford the Service?

By offering DTC preventative gene sequencing, hospital leaders hope to help physicians better predict cancer risk and provide more accurate diagnoses

Two Boston health systems, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), are the latest to open preventative gene sequencing clinics and compete with consumer gene sequencing companies, such as 23andMe and Ancestry, as well as with other hospital systems that already provide similar services.

This may provide opportunities for clinical laboratories. However, some experts are concerned that genetic sequencing may not be equally available to patients of all socioeconomic classes. Nor is it clear how health systems plan to pay for the equipment and services, since health insurance companies continue to deny coverage for “elective” gene sequencing, or when there is not a “clear medical reason for it, such as for people with a long family history of cancer,” notes STAT.

Therefore, not everyone is convinced of the value of gene sequencing to either patients or hospitals, even though advocates tout gene sequencing as a key element of precision medicine.

Is Preventative Genetic Sequencing Ready for the Masses?

Brigham’s Preventive Genomics Clinic offers comprehensive DNA sequencing, interpretation, and risk reporting to both adults and children. And MGH “plans to launch its own clinic for adults that will offer elective sequencing at a similar price range as the Brigham,” STAT reported.

The Brigham and MGH already offer similar gene sequencing services as other large health systems, such as Mayo Clinic and University of California San Francisco (UCSF), which are primarily used for research and cancer diagnoses and range in price depending on the depth of the scan, interpretation of the results, and storage options.

However, some experts question whether offering the technology to consumers for preventative purposes will benefit anyone other than a small percentage of patients.

“It’s clearly not been demonstrated to be cost-effective to promote this on a societal basis,” Robert Green, MD, MPH, medical geneticist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and professor of genetics at Harvard, told STAT. “The question that’s hard to answer is whether there are long-term benefits that justify those healthcare costs—whether the sequencing itself, the physician visit, and any downstream testing that’s stimulated will be justified by the situations where you can find and prevent disease.”

Additionally, large medical centers typically charge more for genomic scans than consumer companies such as 23andMe and Ancestry. Hospital-based sequencing may be out of the reach of many consumers, and this concerns some experts.

“The idea that genomic sequencing is only going to be accessible by wealthy, well-educated patrons who can pay out of pocket is anathema to the goals of the publicly funded Human Genome Project,” Jonathan Berg, MD, PhD, Genetics Professor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, told Scientific American.

Nevertheless, consumer interest in preventative genetic sequencing is increasing and large health systems want a piece of the market. At the same time, genetics companies are reducing their costs and passing that reduction on to their customers. (See Dark Daily, “Veritas Genetics Drops Its Price for Clinical-Grade Whole-Genome Sequencing to $599, as Gene Sequencing Costs Continue to Fall,” October 23, 2018.)

Providers Go Direct to Consumers with Gene Sequencing

Healthcare providers and clinical laboratories played an important part in the growth of the Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) genetic testing, a market which the American Hospital Association (AHA) predicts is on track to expand dramatically over the next decade. BIS Research foresees a $6.3 billion valuation of the DTC genetic test market by 2028, according to a news release.

And, according to the American Journal of Managed Care, “It’s estimated that by 2021, 100 million people will have used a direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic test. As these tests continue to gain popularity, there is a need for educating consumers on their DTC testing results and validating these results with confirmatory testing in a medical-grade laboratory.”

This is why it’s critical that clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups have a genetic testing and gene sequencing strategy, as Dark Daily reported.

David Bick, MD, Chief Medical Officer at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology and Medical Director of the Smith Family Clinic for Genomic Medicine, told Scientific American, “there’s just more and more interest from patients and families not only because of 23andMe and the like, but because there’s just this understanding that if you can find out information about your health before you become sick, then really our opportunity as physicians to do something to help you is much greater.”

In an article he penned for Medium, Robert Green, MD, MPH (shown above counseling a patient), medical geneticist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and professor of genetics at Harvard, wrote, “The ultimate aim of our Genomes2People Research Program is to contribute to the transformation of medicine from reactive to proactive, from treatment-oriented to preventive. We are trying to help build the evidence base that will justify societal decision to make these technologies and services accessible to anyone who wants them, regardless of means, education or race and ethnicity.” (Photo copyright: Wall Street Journal.)

Is Preventative Genomics Elitist?

As large medical centers penetrate the consumer genetic testing market some experts express concerns. In a paper he wrote for Medium, titled, “Is Preventive Genomics Elitist?” Green asked, “Is a service like this further widening the inequities in our healthcare system?”

Green reported that while building the Preventive Genomics Clinic at Brigham, “we … struggled with the reality that there is no health insurance coverage for preventive genomic testing, and our patients must therefore pay out of pocket. This is a troubling feature for a clinic at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, which is known for its ties to communities in Boston with diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds.”

Most of Brigham’s early genetics patients would likely be “well-off, well-educated, and largely white,” Green wrote. “This represents the profile of typical early adopters in genetic medicine, and in technology writ large. It does not, however, represent the Clinic’s ultimate target audience.”

More Data for Clinical Laboratories

Nevertheless, preventive genomics programs offered by large health systems will likely grow as primary care doctors and others see evidence of value.

Therefore, medical laboratories that process genetic sequencing data may soon be working with growing data sets as more people reach out to healthcare systems for comprehensive DNA sequencing and reporting.

—Donna Marie Pocius

Related Information:

Top U.S. Medical Centers Roll Out DNA Sequencing Clinics for Healthy Clients

Brigham and Women’s Hospital Opens Preventive Genomics Clinic

Preventive Genomics for Healthy People

Consumers Buy into Genetic Testing Kits

Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing Market to Reach $6.36 Billion by 2028

Is Preventive Genomics Elitist?

Why It’s Time for All Clinical Laboratories and Anatomic Pathology Groups to Have a Genetic Testing and Gene Sequencing Strategy

More Clinical Laboratories and Genetic Testing Companies Are Sharing Gene Sequencing Data That Involve Variations

Veritas Genetics Drops Its Price for Clinical-Grade Whole-Genome Sequencing to $599, as Gene Sequencing Costs Continue to Fall

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